


Better

by JustAndrea



Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Character Bonding, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 15:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Changing from a bad guy to a somewhat-good guy is never easy. There’s always a few missteps and mistakes - and maybe a fire or two. But thankfully, Hater’s not the only one who’s had to make this change, and a certain surprisingly-relateable Zbornak may just have some advice for him.





	

For the past two and a half years or so, Sylvia had gotten pretty used to hearing the name of a certain electric skeletal warlord on her and her best friend’s travels. Sometimes it came as a warning from folks who thought they had seen the infamous Skullship in the area. Although, the more times they ran into him, the less threatening this warning became.

Sometimes his name simply came in the form of intergalactic news. Lord Hater tried to conquer another planet and actually succeeded this time (most likely because she and Wander hadn’t been there). Lord Hater got into another fight with Emperor Awesome in a nearby asteroid field. Lord Hater had raised the bounty on them another ten thousand Haterzoids (definitely not a concern - it wasn’t as if she hadn’t fought off bounty hunters before). And other times, it was just a simple mention of the skeleton during a conversation - a quick reminder that, unfortunately, they still had to deal with him and his Watchdogs in-between adventures.

However, as strange and surprising as it was - yet, maybe not so surprising at all - the stories along with the context of each mention of Hater’s name slowly started to change…

No longer was his name associated with fear or acted as a warning - that is unless someone was being told that they were just about to miss seeing him. Now, people who uttered the name Lord Hater did so with excitement and admiration - something Sylvia could honestly say that she never thought she would ever hear.

Sometimes they would hear about how he would try to conquer a planet, but instead of leaving destruction and intimidating bases and statues, he would leave autographs and a lively retelling of how he stopped the once-mighty Lord Dominator’s drill - though he would still make sure to leave a Hater Empire flag. Other stories would be simpler ones, like how he ended up dining with locals or had a somewhat friendly meeting with a royal or even him helping someone out with something (though he would almost always insist afterwards that he only helped because he was annoyed with the person’s problem, but this little detail was usually left out anyway). Of course, the latter stories always made Wander smile the most.

But, there were always exceptions, and sometimes-

_“AHHHHH! LORD HATER JUST SET OUR CROPS ON FIRE! HELP! **HEEEELP!”**_

…Well, sometimes the mention of his name could still mean trouble. ‘Hmph, good thing we’ve gotten pretty good at dealing with trouble,’ Sylvia thought as she raced their orbubble towards the burning landscape, with Wander already having a hat-provided fire extinguisher ready to go.

()()()()()()()()()

“…Alrighty, everyone!” Wander finally said with a smile, taking a moment to run the remaining smoke out of his eyes, “I think it’s all out now! Nothin’ to worry about!” Both the two tailed, green skinned farmers and the Watchdogs (who had gotten more than their fair share of smoke and dirt in their eyes trying to put the fields out themselves) cheered at that.

Standing behind the crowd and knowing her job was officially done, Sylvia crossed her arms. With the fires and their heat gone, she couldn’t help but shiver slightly. Must’ve been the start of a cold season on this planet or something. “So… I take it this was all Bonehead’s idea?”

The commander couldn’t help but sigh. “Well, technically it had been my idea to come over here and check up on things. _But_ , if you’re talking about the idea that led to all this, then yes, it was his.” Peepers then added with a mumble, “Honestly it’ll be a miracle if they don’t recede from the Empire because of all this.” Not that they couldn’t just force them to stay, but considering their new 'reputation’, this probably wouldn’t be the wisest course of action.

Giving a slight nod at that, Sylvia then turned her gaze over to the skeletal overlord. Once she did so however, her look quickly became sympathetic. When they had first arrived on the planet, Hater had been quick-moving and frantic, trying to pass out burnt crops (as if food would somehow calm them down) and ordering the farmers to stop running and screaming while his army tried to take care of the huge flames behind him.

But now, as he made sure to stand by himself and with his cloak dirty and his hood partially hiding his face, well… Maybe there hadn’t been a big plan or a huge battle or anything usual like that, but it still certainly looked like he had lost some sort of fight.

“Okay, now how’s about we get started on cleanin’ things up around here?” Wander suggested, with the farmers all agreeing. After all, the sooner they cleaned up the fields, the sooner they could replant. Wander then turned to the Watchdogs. “And you guys could help us with the crops. You know, pick out the sorta burnt ones from the very burnt ones?” It wasn’t the most fun job, but no one seemed to argue much against it, not even Peepers (and it wasn’t as if they had anything else to do).

“Syl, you and I can help with the clean-up, and Hater, you can-!” Hater had looked up when he heard his name, but before Wander could even finish his sentence, he gave the nomad a strong glare before stomping past everyone and heading back over near where his ship was.

“Oh. …Well, maybe he’ll be in the mood to help later,” Wander added, trying his best to keep a smile on his face and not let his disappointment show too much.

Sylvia frowned, but patted his back. “Yeah buddy, maybe.” With that, everyone got to work. Burnt plants and charred wood was picked up or dragged away, ashy soil was turned, and anything salvageable was saved. Throughout the process though, Wander kept glancing back over at the Skullship, as if expecting Hater to walk out from behind it at any second. When he looked really concerned, he even tried walking over to the ship, but he only ever got a couple steps in before someone called his name. He never could resist a call for help, after all.

Sylvia, on the other hand… “Say, Wander?” she said as she threw another dozen dead corn stocks onto the pile, “I think I’m gonna take a break real quick. Will you guys be alright working on your own for a bit?”

Wander nodded, giving her a confident smile. “Sure thing, Syl! You just go on ahead and rest for as long as you need to!” Sylvia nodded back at him, muttering a quick thank you before walking out of the fields, past the water pump, and towards the large, silver ship. Once she went behind it though, she saw no one in sight, and the ship itself was all closed up. Thankfully, the faint sound of splashing water and grumbling gave her a pretty good clue of where the person she was looking for was.

“Hmph. …Stupid fire.” He kicked a rock into the small watering hole, not caring if it disturbed the creatures in or around it. “Stupid plants! Stupid farmers!” Another rock was kicked into the water, then another, and another - and it wasn’t until it had already landed in the water that Hater realized it had been the last rock there (as well as the last thing he could vent his frustrations on without causing even more destruction to the planet).

With nothing else left to do, he simply yanked down on his hood, stretching the sides of it as far as it could go, and screamed. “Grahhhh, stupid-! Stupid PEEPERS! It wasn’t even my fault! He was the one who said they needed heat to grow and stuff! I just did what I thought I needed to do! And it SHOULD have worked! How was I supposed to know they’d catch on fire from a little magic lightning?!“

"Huh, so that’s how it happened. Eh, still, better than the alternative.”

Hater paused, quickly turning around at the comment. However, his surprise quickly turned back to anger. “W-What are you doing here?!”

Of course, Sylvia didn’t even flinch. “Well, I did just come to see how you were doin, but it was nice to get some answers in the meantime.”

“Grrr, _get out of here!”_ “Nope.” She walked over to him and sat down near the water. Even when she noticed the small sparks around his fists, she didn’t try to get up (though she did ball up her own fists, just in case).

Hater’s glare deepened. “Fine! I’ll just go find somewhere else to-”

“Wrong again, Bonehead.” She gave him a stern look. “I’m thinkin’ you and I need to have a talk, and I don’t know about you, but I think it’s the perfect time for it.”

“…” His scowl stayed, but he didn’t try to leave, at least. “…And just what do we need to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know. …Maybe about how to go from bein’ a bad guy to a not-so-bad guy who can help out without causing any property damage?”

As she expected, Hater immediately started to argue. “Ugh, I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but just because I saved the Galaxy ONE TIME doesn’t make me some good guy! I’m-!”

The Zbornak was already rolling her eyes. “Yeah yeah, I know, you’re a totally heartless bad guy who’s still gonna rule this galaxy and only helps when he feels like it, not because he’s actually good. Blah blah, heard it all before-” And honestly, it wasn’t fooling anyone at this point- “But let me ask you this: if you’re not a good guy, then why do you care so much that you messed up, and that you possibly just ruined the good opinion that those farmers had on you?”

Hater opened his mouth to argue, but while he did manage to sputter out a couple syllables, nothing of actual substance came out. After a few seconds, he sighed and sat down on the grass, wrapping his arms around his knees. “…You’re the worst.”

“Dully noted,” Sylvia retorted before looking away and turning her gaze towards the clear water. A bit of silence never hurt, and besides, she knew all she had to do was wait.

And sure enough- “It really wasn’t my fault, you know,” he quietly repeated, “I mean, Peepers said-!”

“I heard, but you still played your part,” Sylvia told him, glancing away from the water and looking straight at him now, “Tc'ch, it definitely seemed like something you do. Something big, bold, probably without thinking, assuming it’ll work out because you’re the 'greatest in the galaxy’.” Hater scowled, but stopped when he noticed her eyes get softer. “But, as much as you should take responsibility for it, you don’t have to be too hard on yourself. …If it’s any comfort, I’m pretty sure that everyone back there knows what you did was an accident. I mean, when was the last time you started a fire or destroyed somethin’ on purpose?”

Hater shrugged. “I dunno… Does it even matter?”

“Of course it does,” Sylvia easily replied, smiling slightly to herself, “After all, there’s a difference between fighting someone to protect someone you care about and just beating someone up for fun, isn’t there?”

“…” Hater glanced away, squeezing his fists once more. “…Look, it doesn’t matter what I do or why I’m doing it if I still fail! I mean-!” He groaned. “I mean, it was hard enough being evil at times, but now I have to not only be a good guy, but I have to also keep being great while making sure that people keep liking me! But people _won’t_ like me if I just keep messing things up whenever I do feel like being good! A-And if I’m terrible at being a good guy and I just naturally do bad guy things anyway, then- _then I might as well just be a bad guy again!”_

He was panting a bit now, sitting up straight with his fists still clenched and pretty much looking like he was ready to attack anything and anyone - but Sylvia still completely calm and unthreatened. Heck, she wasn’t even annoyed by his rant. …Honestly Hater wasn’t sure whether or not to take offense to this.

“…Alright.” Her look became stern once more. “Let me ask you something: Are you trying to be good because you feel like you have to now - whatever the reason, I don’t care what it is - or… because you want to?”

At that moment, Hater’s body totally froze. His hands relaxed, his breathing softened, and he lowered his head, once again hiding his eyes. It took a bit but, after nearly a full minute of thinking, he mumbled his answer. “What was that?” Sylvia asked, “Come on, say it clearly.”

The skeleton growled, but complied. “I… I’m doing it because I want to, alright?”

“Okay,” Sylvia nodded, “Then, that’s all that matt-”

“Oh yeah right!” He retorted, glare quickly returning, “Easy for people like you and Wander to say! But for other people - NORMAL people - it’s-! …I-It’s-!” He stopped, and sighed. “…It’s just not that easy.” In fact, it was people like Wander that made it hard for him to be a good guy in the first place. He was sure that Wander never accidentally torched a field while trying to help the crops in it grow faster…

Sylvia held back a sigh of her own. “…Not every good guy is flawless you know. Not even Wander.”

“Hmph, still pretty perfect though,” Hater argued, letting go of his legs and crossing his arms. He had captured and tried to defeat him and had even just seen his goodness in action enough times to know that.

“…Yeah, he can be pretty amazing. Overwhelming, sure. Sometimes has ideas that are a little too farfetch’d, definitely. But still… Amazing.” Unsurprisingly, Hater’s frown deepened. 

“But,” Sylvia continued, “Just because he’s really good at bein’ a good guy doesn’t mean that other people shouldn’t become good guys just because they’re not as good at helping and saving the day as he is. Like I said, he’s made some mistakes of his own. And hey, one of the main reasons why he helps people and is always givin’ them the benefit of the doubt is because he wants them to maybe decide to be good too, even if they’re bad guys - and trust me, I should know.”

“Yeah yeah, I know too,” Hater said with a small eye roll. However, as the seconds passed and his mind slowly started to realize what Sylvia had just said, he turned to look at her. “Wait… Are, are you saying-? Did Wander-? Were, were you once a-?”

“Yyyyep,” Sylvia admitted, her eyes back on the water, “I used to be a bad guy…” Had he been paying attention, Hater probably would’ve seen the obvious guilt on her face. As it were though, Hater could only stare at her, shocked at not only the fact that he and his former enemy started out on the same side, but that Wander had actually 'wanderized’ his best friend.

“So, yeah, believe it or not, I’ve been down this same road that you’re on,” she continued once she got tired of the skeletal lord’s stares, “and, let’s just say I know how frustrating and annoying it can be… Being reluctant to change, then feeling like a failure when you start to change but mess up at it, either by doing the wrong thing on accident, or by fallin’ back on old, easy habits… It’s not easy. Probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, even.”

“…Yeah…” Hater mumbled. Even after only a month or so of trying to be good, he could still definitely agree with that. “…But, you ended up becoming a good guy eventually, so how did you-?”

“Who says I’m a good guy?”

“…” Hater blinked, then blinked again, then scowled when he saw the smirk on the Zbornak’s face. “Grrrr, stop trying to confuse me and just answer the question already!”

“I’m not trying to confuse you!” Sylvia argued, “I really don’t consider myself a total 'good guy’! I mean, do you honestly think that good guys like Wander would ever even think about doing half the stuff that I do?!” Again, Hater tried to argue, but just couldn’t find the words.

So, she looked him straight in the eyes and kept talking. “Look… I realized a long time ago that I’ll never be as good as Wander - and like I said, even he’s not perfect - but, that doesn’t mean that I have to stop trying and just stay bad. And sure, I could try to totally change myself, but it probably wouldn’t work. And heck, even if it did work I’d probably be miserable.”

Hater frowned. “So, then… What are you- what am _I_ supposed to do?” he asked genuinely.

And to that, Sylvia gave her the simplest answer she could think of: “Stop thinking about labels.”

“Huh?” “In other words, don’t worry about being totally good or totally bad. Don’t worry about being a just good guy or just a bad guy or whatever, just be better.” She smiled slightly, remembering all the ways she had ended up becoming a better person in just a few short years - even while keeping her punchy, fighting, blunt, and sometimes grumpy nature. “Because honestly, depending on where you start out, just being a better you and making small changes can make a huge difference. And, more than likely, you’ll end up a lot happier too…”

“Happier…” With her words fresh in his mind, Hater once again found himself staring at her for a bit before looking down at himself. “Be a better you… Huh.” He still wasn’t completely sure how to do that - or at least, he wasn’t sure what things he could do that could make him better while at the same time didn’t have a huge possibility of failure - but still… Maybe it could work. After all, he was already great, but maybe he could be better. The thought did make him smile, just a little.

“And, you know, learning from your mistakes usually helps a lot too,” she added, grinning slightly, “So, here’s hoping you don’t go starting anymore fires anytime soon, alright?”

Hater shot her another glare - though it didn’t last quite as long as the last one. “Yeah yeah, I won’t. Gah, just as long as Peepers doesn’t tell me the wrong thing.”

“And as long as you actually think before you act - though, I know how hard that can be to not do too. …But you know,” she started to say, her look softening again, “After what you did on the secret planet, a lot of people admire you - including those farmers-” She gestured back to the field behind them. “-They’re thankful for you. I’m pretty sure they like you - who wouldn’t at least like you a little after you helped saved their homes - and I’m also sure that most of the people out there are plenty willing to give you a second chance because of that. So, just try not to worry too much about trying to impress people, okay Bonehead.”

“Gah, yeah, sure,” he quickly replied, trying to hide his now much-bigger smile.

“Good.” With that, Sylvia stood up and stretched slightly. “Come on,” she said, offering her hand, “I’ve had enough sittin’ around, and we’ve both been out here way longer than we needed, so what do you say we go help them finish up things on the field?”

Hater hesitated, but eventually he did take her hand and allowed her to lead them back to the field. “…So, how long do you think it’ll take all the crops to regrow?”

She shrugged, figuring he deserved an honest answer. “Dunno. If they need heat though, it may take them a while in this weather.” She glanced up at the grey yet cloudless sky. “Though, if it rains, at least that’ll help the seeds sprout faster.”

“Yeah, and-” He perked up suddenly. “And I could bring in some rain!”

“Wait, what?” Sylvia said, stopping, “You can make it rain?” “Yeah!” “And you’re sure you can actually do this and you don’t just think you can do it?”

“Ughhh, yes!” He insisted, “I’ve even done it before! I just have to use my magic to pull in a bunch of clouds together, and then once I fill them with enough of my lightning and magic and stuff, they start raining! And they only last for like fifteen minutes so they don’t even stick around long enough to be annoying!”

“…Huh.” Who would’ve thought that along with all the powerful things she had seen him do, he could also create small storms? “That’s, actually pretty cool.”

“I know, right?” He smirked, “and with my rain, those farmers will have their plants starting to grow in no time! And then, maybe we can cover the fields with heated blankets or whatever afterwards to give them heat.”

“Heh,” Sylvia said, grinning slightly as she started to walk again, “Maybe. Buuut maybe we can give you a hand with it too.” “Ugh, fine, I guess more help from you guys wouldn’t be TOO annoying.”

As she thought about it, she was sure that there were some things about Hater that would never change - just like how there were certain parts of her own personality that would never totally disappear. But for better or worse, these parts of them would stay, but that didn’t stop other parts from still changing - parts that could still improve and grow and hopefully become even better than they were.

And honestly, Sylvia wasn’t sure how much better Hater would be or how much he would change by the time she and Wander randomly heard his name once more or inevitably ran into him again. He certainly still had a lot to learn about both life outside of being an evil ruler and about smaller things like friendship and helping people out. Though, he already cared about others somewhat and was at least willing to make the effort it seemed like, and that was definitely a decent start.

But one thing was for certain - no matter how big or small that change was, she was still looking forward to seeing both it and him again.

Because hey, an old enemy is just a friend that you’re still getting to know.

**THE END**


End file.
